Golf swing training device and method

ABSTRACT

A golf swing training device has first and second radially spaced swing guides that define a swing plane of a golf club and restricts movement of the golf club within the swing plane.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a golf training device, and more particularly to a device that trains a golfer to swing in an ideal swing plane.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Over the years, a great deal of effort has been expended to improving the swing of a golfer. To achieve a proper and consistent golf swing for more accurate golf play, a golfer must swing a golf club within an ideal swing plane. Accomplishing this requires repetitious practice of a proper swing in backswing, downswing and follow-through.

A number of prior art devices have been patented which are intended to accomplish this essential learning technique. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,105,177 to Turner teaches a golf club swing guide having closely spaced apart front and rear guide ring segments which define a golf club swing slot through which the shaft of the golf club travels.

However, one drawback of such a device is that because the club handle, during a swing, can freely move forward and backward relative to the golfer, the golf club can substantially deviate from the ideal swing plane. As a result, the deviation may cause the very slices and hooks that the training device is designed to reduce.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved device and method that consistently maintains the swing of the golf club within an ideal swing plane throughout the backswing and the downswing.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Disclosed herein according to one aspect of the present invention is a golf swing training device comprising a rigid first swing guide and a rigid second swing guide radially spaced from the first swing guide to define a swing plane of a golf club. The first and second swing guides guide and restricts movement of a golf club within the swing plane. A swing guide support supports the first and second swing guides at an angle relative to the ground.

Advantageously, the present golf swing training device allows a golfer to gain consistency, accuracy and distance, and to keep the bad shots in play by substantially reducing the slices and hooks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A illustrates a golfer in an ideal ball addressing position.

FIG. 1B illustrates a golf club lying in an ideal swing plane during a backswing.

FIG. 1C illustrates a golfer in a traditional ball addressing position.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a golf swing training device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of the golf swing training device of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the golfer in an initial ball addressing position using the golf swing training device of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the golfer nearing completion of the backswing using the golf swing training device of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a right side view of a golfer at the end of the swing completion using the golf swing training device of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7A is a perspective view of a golf swing training device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view of the golf swing training device of FIG. 7A taken along line 7B-7B.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Throughout the present teachings, any and all of the one, two, or more features and/or components disclosed or suggested herein, explicitly or implicitly, may be practiced and/or implemented in any combinations of two, three, or more thereof, whenever and wherever appropriate as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The various features and/or components disclosed herein are all illustrative for the underlying concepts, and thus are non-limiting to their actual descriptions. Any means for achieving substantially the same functions are considered as foreseeable alternatives and equivalents, and are thus fully described in writing and fully enabled. The various examples, illustrations, and embodiments described herein are by no means, in any degree or extent, limiting the broadest scopes of the claimed inventions presented herein or in any future applications claiming priority to the instant application.

Any directional reference herein is made with respect to the golfer.

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the perfect biomechanical swing to hit a golf ball solidly, consistently and straight is one that maintains the original angle formed by the club shaft and the ground (defining an ideal swing plane as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 1B) throughout the entire backswing and downswing. When looking at this perfect swing from down the line (DTL), one can see that 1) the line formed by the right arm at the setup position is at exactly the same angle as the line formed by the club shaft and the ground, thus the shaft appears to be an extension of the right arm, and 2) the golf club maintains this exact angle moving within the ideal swing plane during the entire backswing and downswing.

By contrast, FIG. 1C illustrates a golfer in a traditional ball addressing position. As can be seen, a line formed by the right arm is at a steeper angle than the line formed by the club shaft. As a result, the original angle formed by the club shaft and the ground (swing plane) changes and moves throughout the swing reaching the impact position at a steeper angle. This substantially increases the likelihood of the golf ball to slice or hook, and deviate from the intended ball flight.

According to the principles of the present invention, the golf swing training device is designed to maintain the golf club shaft within the ideal swing plane throughout the swing. One embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 2.

A golf swing training device 2 includes a swing guide support 4 and swing guides 6 supported by the swing guide support at an incline relative to the ground. The golf swing training device 2 also may include a floor mat 8.

The swing guides 6 include a rigid inner swing guide 10 and a rigid outer swing guide 11 radially spaced from the inner swing guide. In the embodiment shown, the distance between the inner and outer swing guides 10,11 is about 4 inches (10 cm). The inner swing guide 10 includes a front ring member 12 and a rear ring member 14 that are closely spaced from each other to define an inner curved slot through which a golf club 18 passes. The outer swing guide 11 includes a front ring member 20 and a rear ring member 22 that are closely spaced from each other to define an outer curved slot through which the golf club 18 passes. In the embodiment shown, the distance between the front and rear ring members (i.e., width of the curved slots) for both the inner and outer swing guides 10,11 is about 1.18 inches (30 mm) although it can be narrower for more advanced players and wider to allow wider margins in swing plane variation to accommodate beginners.

In the embodiment shown, the front and rear ring members 12,14 of the inner swing guide 10 are attached to each other near the end of a backswing by welding. Likewise, the front and rear ring members 20,22 of the outer swing guide 11 are also attached to each other near the end of the backswing by welding. The weld points of the inner and outer swing guides 10,11 define the end of the maximum backswing allowed and one end of the curved slots.

Optionally, an adjustable backswing stop 64 may be slidably coupled to the swing guides 10,11 to provide different backswing stop points for different golfers or to practice less than full backswing shots.

In the embodiment shown, the rear ring members 14,22 are full, closed loop rings while the front ring members 12,20 are partial rings. The front ring members 12,20 of both the inner and outer swing guides 10,11 terminate as free ends at a location near the end of the downswing to allow the golf club 18 to move outside of the swing plane for a natural follow through of the golf club as shown in FIG. 6.

The swing guide support 4 includes a right support 26, a left support 28, and a support plate 30 securing the right and left supports. The right support 26 includes a right support frame 32, first and second arms 34, 36, third and fourth arms 38, 40 and a fifth arm 42.

The first arm 34 is secured to the right support frame 32 at one end and to the front ring members 12, 20 of the inner and outer swing guides 10, 11 at the other end. The second arm 36 is secured to the right support frame 32 at one end and to the rear ring members 14, 22 of the inner and outer swing guides 10, 11 at the other end. The first and second arms 34, 36 are sufficiently long and sufficiently spaced from each other to allow the head of a golf club 18 to pass through during a golf swing. Similarly, the third and fourth arms 38, 40 are secured to the front ring members 12, 20 and the rear ring members 14, 22, respectively. The third and fourth arms 38, 40 are also sufficiently long and sufficiently spaced from each other to allow the head of the golf club 18 to pass through. The fifth arm 42 is connected to the front ring members 12, 20 near the end of the downswing so as to provide extra support for the ring members.

The right support 26 also includes a right support arm 44 having a top end which is pivotally connected to the right support frame 32 and a bottom end that rests on the ground. An elongate bar 46 is pivotally connected to the right support frame 32 and has a row of notches (e.g., holes) for engagement with the right support arm 44 by a bolt 48 through any selected one of the notches and the hole in the right support arm 44.

The left support 28 includes a left support beam 50, sixth and seventh arms 52, 54 and a left support arm 56. The sixth and seventh arms 52, 54 are secured to the rear ring members 14, 22 to secure the swing guide 6 to the left support 28. Similar to the right support arm 44, the left support arm 56 has a top end pivotally connected to the left support beam 50 and a bottom end that rests on the ground. A left elongate bar 58 is pivotally connected to the left support beam 50 and has a row of notches for engagement with the left support arm 56 by a bolt 62 any selected one of the notches and the hole in the left support arm 56. The elongate bars 46, 58 and the bolts 48,60 are used to adjust the incline angle and thereby an ideal swing plane of the golf swing training device 2 to accommodate different golfers. In the embodiment shown, the incline is adjustable from 50° and 70° relative to the ground.

For structural integrity, a horizontal beam 66 attached to the right support 26 on one end and to the left support 28 on the other end may be provided.

Optionally, a head stop 68 attached to the front beam of the right support frame 32 may be provided to prevent the head of a golfer from moving laterally toward the backswing direction. The head stop 68 is vertically adjustable along the front beam of the right support frame 32 and horizontally adjustable to accommodate different golfers. In the embodiment shown, the head stop 68 only prevents head movement to the backswing direction (i.e., right side for a right handed golfer) and allows head movement toward the ball flight direction (i.e., left side for a right handed golfer). Alternatively, a head stop may prevent head movement both in the backswing and ball flight directions by using a helmet type device.

The floor mat 8 may include a pair of foot prints to provide a guide for a golfer to stand and a pair of parallel lines as a visual swing path indicator

A method of using the golf swing training device 2 will now be explained. Initially, an operator of the device 2 adjusts the incline of the swing plane by using the elongate bars 46, 58 and bolts 48,60 to accommodate golfers of different build and height. The golfer 62 then stands behind the device 2 over the foot prints and inserts the golf club 18 into the inner and outer curved slots defined by the ring members 12,14,20,22 to stand in an initial ball addressing position as shown in FIG. 4.

The golfer 62 then swings the golf club 18 as if a golf ball is being struck. The swing includes a backswing, downswing and a follow through. Because the golf club is being restricted by the four ring members 12,14,20,22 to stay at substantially the same angle in an ideal swing plane, each swing is a perfect swing. Repeating this perfect plane swing hundreds or may be thousands of times will make the body, brain and muscles learn the swing and “remember” it due to “muscle memory”.

Consequently, with the present golf swing training device 2, a golfer will significantly improve his swing, gaining consistency, accuracy and distance hitting more great shots, and more importantly, keeping the bad shots in play by substantially reducing the slices and hooks.

Moreover, since the angle between the club 18 and the ground is maintained during not only the backswing but during the downswing as well, the present swing training device 2 will not allow the golfer to “come over the top” (out-to-in path) or to come to the impact zone with an “in-to-out path”. As the club 18 is always moving within the perfect plane, the path, thereby the golf club 18, will be square coming into the impact zone, which allows the golfer to hit the ball more consistently and straight.

Although the present swing training device 2 has been shown with fixed dimensions for the first and second swing guides 10,11 and the swing guide support 4, one can readily appreciate that the dimensions can vary to accommodate golfers of different height and build. For example, the height of the swing guide support 4, radius of the swing guides 10,11, distance between the inner and outer swing guides, distance between front and rear ring members 12,20 and 14,22 can be made to be adjustable.

FIG. 7A is a perspective view of a golf swing training device 2′ according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view of the golf swing training device of FIG. 7A taken along line 7B-7B. FIG. 7A only shows the first swing guide 12,14 and second swing guide 22 as the other components are similar to those of FIG. 2. In the device 2′, only three ring members 12, 14 and 22 are used to keep the golf club 18 within the ideal swing plane. The first swing guide includes ring members 12, 14 and the second swing guide includes a single ring member 22. The ring members 12, 14 define a curved slot through which the golf club passes. As shown in FIG. 7B, the front ring member 12 is radially spaced from the rear ring member 14 and the single ring member 22 of the second swing guide to provide the ideal swing plane. During a swing, the golf club 18 passes through the space created by the ring members 14,22 and ring member 12.

The difference from the device 2 of FIG. 2 is that the front ring member 12 has a larger radius than the rear ring member 14 and a smaller radius than the rear ring member 22. Preferably, the front ring member 12 is positioned in the middle between the two rear ring members 14,22. For example, the radii for the ring members 14,12,22 may be 80 cm, 85 cm and 90 cm, respectively. The distance L between the front ring member 12 and rear ring members 14,22 in the embodiment shown is about 1.18 inches (30 mm) although it may be narrower to ensure that the golf club 18 does not deviate significantly from the ideal swing plane. Similar to the device 2 of FIG. 2, the front ring member 12 terminates as a free end at a location near the end of the downswing to allow the golf club 18 to move outside of the swing plane for a natural follow through of the golf club 18.

The above disclosure is intended to be illustrative and not exhaustive. This description will suggest many modifications, variations, and alternatives may be made by ordinary skill in this art without departing from the scope of the invention. Those familiar with the art may recognize other equivalents to the specific embodiments described herein. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not limited to the foregoing specification. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A golf swing training device comprising: a first swing guide having front and rear ring members spaced from each other to define a first curved slot through which a golf club passes; a second swing guide radially spaced from the first swing guide and having at least one ring member, the first curved slot and the second swing guide defining a swing plane of the golf club and restricting movement of the golf club within the swing plane; a swing guide support supporting the first and second swing guides at an angle relative to the ground.
 2. The golf swing training device of claim 1, wherein: the second swing guide has a single ring member; and the front ring member is radially spaced from the rear ring member and the single ring member of the second swing guide.
 3. The golf swing training device of claim 1, wherein the at least one ring member of the second swing guide includes front and rear ring members spaced from each other to define a second curved slot through which a golf club passes such that the first and second curved slots define the swing plane.
 4. The golf swing training device of claim 1, wherein the front ring member of the first swing guide terminates as a free end at a location near the end of a downswing to allow the golf club to move outside of the swing plane for a natural follow through of the golf club.
 5. The golf swing training device of claim 1, wherein the swing guide support includes: a first arm attached to the front ring member of the first swing guide; and a second arm attached to the rear ring member of the first swing guide, the first and second arms defining a space through which the golf club passes.
 6. The golf swing training device of claim 1, wherein the front and rear ring members of the first swing guide are attached to each other at a predetermined location to provide a backswing stop.
 7. The golf swing training device of claim 1, further comprising an adjustable backswing stop slidably coupled to the front and rear ring members of the first swing guide.
 8. The golf swing training device of claim 1, wherein the swing guide support includes: a support frame; and a support arm pivotally coupled to the support frame to provide an adjustable angle of the swing plane relative to ground.
 9. The golf swing training device of claim 1, further comprising a head stop to prevent the head of the golfer from moving laterally toward the backswing direction.
 10. A golf swing training device comprising: an inner swing guide having front and rear ring members spaced from each other to define an inner curved slot through which a golf club passes; an outer swing guide spaced from the inner swing guide and having front and rear ring members spaced from each other to define an outer curved slot through which the golf club passes, the inner and outer curved slots defining a swing plane of the golf club and restricting movement of the golf club within the swing plane; a swing guide support supporting the inner and outer swing guides at an angle relative to the ground.
 11. The golf swing training device of claim 10, wherein the front ring members of the inner and outer swing guides terminate as free ends at a location near the end of a downswing to allow the golf club to move outside of the swing plane for a natural follow through of the golf club.
 12. The golf swing training device of claim 10, wherein: the rear ring member of the inner swing guide includes a full ring; and the front ring member of the inner swing guide includes a partial ring having one end extending from a location near the end of a backswing and the other end terminating as a free end near the end of a downswing to allow the golf club to move outside of the swing plane for a natural follow through of the golf club.
 13. The golf swing training device of claim 10, wherein the swing guide support includes: a first arm attached to the front ring members of the inner and outer swing guides; and a second arm attached to the rear ring members of the inner and outer swing guides, the first and second arms defining a space through which the golf club passes.
 14. The golf swing training device of claim 10, wherein the front and rear ring members of the inner swing guide or the outer swing guide are attached to each other at a predetermined location to provide a backswing stop.
 15. The golf swing training device of claim 10, further comprising an adjustable backswing stop slidably coupled to the front and rear ring members of the inner swing guide or the outer swing guide.
 16. The golf swing training device of claim 10, wherein the swing guide support includes: a support frame; and a support arm pivotally coupled to the support frame to provide an adjustable angle of the swing plane relative to ground.
 17. The golf swing training device of claim 10, wherein the swing guide support includes a rigid bar having a plurality of spaced notches to provide the angular adjustment of the swing plane.
 18. The golf swing training device of claim 10, further comprising a head stop attached to the swing guide support to prevent the head of a golfer from moving laterally toward the backswing direction.
 19. A method of training a golfer for a golf swing comprising: positioning the golfer behind a golf swing training device having: an inner swing guide having front and rear ring members spaced from each other to define an inner curved slot through which a golf club passes; an outer swing guide spaced from the inner swing guide and having front and rear ring members spaced from each other to define an outer curved slot through which the golf club passes, the inner and outer curved slots defining a swing plane of the golf club and restricting movement of the golf club within the swing plane; a swing guide support supporting the inner and outer swing guides at an angle relative to the ground; inserting a golf club into the inner and outer curved slots so that the golf club lies substantially in the swing plane; having the golfer swing the golf club in a backswing direction and then a downswing direction while the golf club stays substantially within the swing plane by the inner and outer curved slots.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein: the front ring members of the inner and outer swing guides terminate as free ends at a location near the end of the downswing; and the method further comprises, after the downswing, having the golfer continue to swing such that the golf club moves outside of the swing plane for a natural follow through of the golf club.
 21. The method of claim 19, further comprising providing a backswing stop attached to the front and rear ring members of the inner swing guide or the outer swing guide so as to prevent the golfer from over swinging the golf club.
 22. The method of claim 19, further comprising adjusting the angle of the swing plane prior to the step of having the golfer swing the golf club.
 23. The method of claim 19, further comprising providing a head stop attached to the swing guide support to prevent the head of a golfer from moving laterally toward the backswing direction. 